Pieces of Us
by petitefeet
Summary: Pieces of Daryl and Carol's lives, told in snippets. [Prompt driven drabbles and shorts]
1. The Vase

This was written from a prompt given to me on tumblr by rhinozilla.

It's been a REALLY long time since I sat down and wrote, and I love prompts, so I am more than willing to write should you leave me a prompt here or in my ask on tumblr (petitefeet79).

Please, enjoy!

* * *

It had all started with an ugly vase that had been found on a random run. It sat in their shared cell, empty. It wasn't for the lack of flowers – the children of the prison delighted in surprising Miss Carol with flowers regularly, especially the little boys. Ever since story time had been a daily activity, always led by Miss Carol, several of the young boys had taken to bringing her little junk flowers that they discovered around the compound. Yet the little ugly vase remained empty.

The closer the children got to Carol, the more and more Daryl noticed the sadness that was just under the surface of her shining smile. No matter how big her smile, or loud her laughter, he could see through it, to the heaviness she held in her heart.

Piles of little flowers started to surround the vase before he knew he had to do something about it.

One morning, after a particularly successful hunt, he sat in the chair in their cell, watching her sleep. As the sun slowly started to fill the cell with light and warmth, Carol stirred. "Morning," she mumbled, and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "No watch this morning?"

He shook his head. "Nah, hunted. Brought in a buck that will feed us all for a few days." He watched as she stretched, then sat up.

It didn't take long for her eyes to fall on the small, ugly vase, and the single cherokee rose that stood out against the vase's gaudy orange, red and blue pattern.

Her smile, and the happiness that shined in her eyes, was enough for him to decide that the extra hour he spent looking for the bush wasn't wasted. It was also enough for him to decide that every morning she would wake up to fucking roses in that ugly vase if it made her happy.


	2. Three Times

OL Prompt! Daryl is in pain (from an embarrassing injury) and Carol tries to make him feel better. - Another great prompt from Rhinozilla on tumblr

Thank you for reading!

* * *

Three times Daryl Dixon harmed himself and hoped to anyone that would hear that the rest of the group wouldn't learn the true nature of his injuries.

The first time had been while they were on the run after the farm. He had been trying to clear a small house for the group to find some reprieve from the storm that was fast approaching them. Unbeknownst to any of them, the layout of the house was a circle, and when he and Rick were the first to discover that fact, the former deputy scared the shit out of him and he hit himself in the face with his crossbow. He and Rick vowed to never speak of it again.

Of course Carol figured out what had happened, as the area around eye started to swell and turn a horrid shade of purple. She shoved some Tylenol down his throat, not taking no for an answer, and swore she would never speak of it again, even though every now and again she still called him Grace when she knew no one else but him would hear.

The second time he had been with Carol when the injury happened. They were sneaking around the prison, because he would be damned if their relationship would be out in the open for everyone to see and give them hell for. An old storage closet was his chosen locale for that encounter, though neither of them really gave a damn about the cobwebs and musty linens. They were rutting like teenagers against an old shelf when the entire thing gave out. Daryl did his best to take the brunt of the old thing and protect Carol from the metal that obviously couldn't take their combined weight leaning against it.

He returned to his cell with a goose egg on his forehead form a stray falling shelf. Carol, again, shoved two Tylenol down his throat and explained his injury to the rest of the group as a stray piece of concrete from a crumbling wall, that they had explored too far into the prison. Glenn was completely unconvinced and spent the next week trying to high five Daryl and reassuring him that sex injuries were incredibly common.

The third, and the most embarrassing time, had happened as he walked through the prison courtyard after a rain. He heard Carol squeal from inside the block and ran full speed after her. After two years on the road his boots had finally lost their tread, which was of course the last thing on his mind as he ran toward the scream. The next thing he knew his head _really_ hurt and he was staring at the still dark sky, dazed.

He hadn't gotten up and Carol was already there looking down at him, her brow furrowed and her hand over her mouth.

Daryl was happy she at least had the courtesy to make sure he was alright before she burst into high pitched peals of laughter.

"Who would have thought that the tough Daryl Dixon would be taken out by a puddle," she cried, her laughter growing stronger by the minute.

"What the hell, lady?" he yelled, louder than he had intended. His head was still pounding and he immediately regretted raising his voice.

Carol's smile was almost enough to make his head stop throbbing, but not enough to ease his mind. "Judith said her first word!"

He glared at her. "All of that over a word? You coulda attracted more walkers, or made someone think you were gonna die! Are you fucking seri-"

Carol cut him off by pressing her lips to his ever so lightly. "She tried to say Daryl. Now come on, let's get you out of those wet clothes and check out your noggin."

Most of his irritation melted away and he followed her back into the block.


	3. Bad Shot

Carol learning to shoot. Froggirl68

* * *

Carol angrily pulled the arrow out of the edge of the target. "I'm never going to get this, Daryl." She marched back over to the line he had drawn in the dirt with his foot and carefully reloaded the small crossbow that he had scavenged for her. "You know I'm a knife woman."

He was having none of it. "Try again. Bullets ain't gonna last forever."

"And neither are arrows," she said as she aimed once again. She took her time, lining up the sight with her target. She relaxed and took a deep breath and let the bolt fly. This time, the arrow was even further off than the previous times, lodging itself into a tree about two yards away from the target.

She wanted to throw the damn crossbow, but she knew that he was bent on her learning how to master it and she didn't want to disappoint him. Daryl's feelings were so fragile that she didn't want to hurt them just because she couldn't pick up on a skill he wanted to teach. So, rather than show her irritation, Carol marched over to the tree and pulled on the arrow.

"Damn it!" The arrow was going nowhere.

Daryl walked up and returned her knife to her. He grabbed the arrow and it was free with a few tugs. "We will try again tomorrow. Don't wanna burn you out."


	4. Love Will Keep Us Alive

Prompt: Guitar - ednaphant

* * *

Perhaps the most useless, but most entertaining, object that they had discovered in the prison was a guitar. The real kicker was no one knew how to play it.

For weeks it was passed from person to person. The prison was rarely quiet with everyone trying their damnedest to try and recreate some sort of music that they thought was lost with the lack of electronics. Daryl was at his wits end with the guitar. He wanted to take it to the roof and throw it off, or pretend he was a rock star just for a moment and smash it into the ground (after playing a ridiculously awesome solo). He was so tired of hearing botched notes and the kids just strumming it without any rhyme or reason.

Just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, someone finally figured out what the hell they were doing. He just didn't figure it would be coming from his and Carol's shared cell.

She didn't stop playing as he came in, only looked up and smiled. "I'm a bit rusty, but it's coming back." He watched her fingers carefully move over the strings. "I haven't played since Ed and I married." She looked down at the strings and smiled blissfully. "I didn't think I could still do it!"

Daryl toed off his boots and laid across their bed.

"Want me to stop?"

"Nah. Know anything by the Eagles?"

She smiled and nodded.

For the first time in weeks he was happy to have the guitar around as Carol played and softly sang for him.


	5. Left Behind

Their cell was colder when she was the only one in it. Even in summer it stayed nice and cool, which suited her just fine. As someone who lived in Georgia all of her life, she had grown accustomed to the sweltering heat, one hundred and two degrees in the shade. For once, she was grateful for Ed not wanting to put central air conditioning in their home before the turn. It prepared her for the days that were coming. But that was besides the point.

The day had ended, all of the children in the prison were asleep, the scheduled people were out on watch, and she was moping around in her cell like a slighted teenager.

There was a planned run, one that Rick had been setting up for at least a week, and she wanted to go. Rather than trust her and her abilities in protecting herself, Daryl made up her mind for her and forbid her to go. Of course that led to an argument that ended in him storming off and her putting a smile on her face for the rest of the group and preparing dinner.

In all honesty, it hurt that he didn't have the faith in her to trust that she was a grown woman and fully capable of taking care of herself. Sure, she wasn't the best shot in the world, even if she was damn good with a rifle, but give her a knife and she was in her element. She was a badass, if she did say so herself.

What hurt even more is, in a way, him forbidding her to go in the run was also a testament as to what he thought of himself. It was he that taught her how to defend herself for the most part. It was he that had given her the knife that she carried in her boot, the small gun that she carried on her hip. In her mind, Daryl was doubting that he had done a good enough job teaching her to keep herself alive.

She would swallow her complaints this time, but the next time he tried to speak for her rather than let her voice her opinion, she swore she was going to kick him in the bits.


	6. Tick Tock

Ticks – prompt from froggirl68

* * *

The cell block was quiet. The only sound to be heard in the cell was Carol's light breathing, and the ticks from the watch she kept with her. Daryl lived for these mornings, when he awoke before anyone else and had no morning duties to tend to. It gave him time to think.

Sometimes he thought about his brother, and what would have become of both of them had Merle never been handcuffed to that roof in Atlanta, or what would have happened if he had returned to the quarry camp instead of getting himself involved with the Governor. Would he have eventually calmed down after he started to detox? Would they have stuck with the group in the first place, or would they have abandoned them after the rest of them headed to the CDC?

Other times he thought of Sophia. He still felt guilty that he hadn't been able to find her in time. There was nothing that he wanted more in the world than to bring that girl back to her mama. There was something about that girl that he related to, something about how much Carol loved her. He could have only dreamed about that sort of parental love and devotion as a child.

Most of the time he thought about Carol, how far they had come, hopes for the future. Marriage had never been a thought in the old world, and he sure as hell didn't give it much thought after the world went to shit. For all intents and purposes, all of the newcomers already seemed to think that she was Mrs. Dixon, and he wasn't about to correct them. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

He listened to the ticks and watched the sunlight slowly move across the cell from the crack in the privacy blanket over the door. Soon the prison would be alive with activity, people with their damn jobs to do.

He rolled over and kissed Carol on the brow. He had watch soon.


	7. Mini Daryl

Rainbow – prompt from froggirl68

* * *

Carol already knew that Daryl loved Judith. He was the one that named her Ass Kicker, the one that could calm the child down even easier than she or Rick could. Carol wasn't the only one that received small gifts from Daryl anymore. He would unconsciously seek out little trinkets that the, now seven year old, girl would love.

Her favorite was the day he showed up with little vest, a miniature version of his own with the angel wings on the back.

"You know she will want a wing patch," she commented as she looked the vest over.

Daryl nodded. "Got somethin better." He fished into his bag and produced a patch and passed it over to Carol. The pair of them grinned.

"I'll start putting it on tonight."

The next day, as she sat on the porch of the plantation house where they now resided, she watched Jude chase after Daryl wearing her own matching vest, but instead of wings she had a rainbow patch that stretched shoulder to shoulder.


	8. Glennus Interruptus

Thermal Underwear – prompt from rhinozilla

* * *

Carol should have known that Daryl would have a problem with the thermals that Glenn had discovered on his last run. He stared at her with a familiar glare that she knew meant 'no'.

"But they are warm," she reasoned. "This is the coldest winter we've seen in years, and with no heat we have to do everything we can to protect ourselves."

He shook his head. "'m not wearing them."

She tried to push the thermals to him again. "They have a flap in the back."

"I don't need a flap in the back 'cause I ain't wearin 'em!" He took the thermals from her, walked out of their cell, and tossed them over the railing down to the prison common area.

Carol pursed her lips. "How are you going to stay warm at night, now?"

He smirked. "How you think, woman." He took the matching pair of thermal underwear from her hands. "You're not gonna need these." They went over the railing with the other pair he had just tossed over.

"Dammnit, guys! If you're going to get all weird sexy and shed your clothes, keep them in your cell!"

Carol watched Daryl put his face in his hand. Leave it to Glenn to ruin his moment. "You can show me how you plan to keep warm without the thermals after watch." She shooed him from the cell with a pat on the behind, anticipating his methods of keeping warm.


End file.
